//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Prince of Dreams // by ShadowStar_IMHP //------------------------------// Psychology Professor Edward Norse’s sharp gray eyes snapped to the clock. “That’s it for today's class.” Several dozen feet started shuffling across the lecture room as students gathered their things and headed outside. Norse looked to one young man in particular and called over the ruckus, “Mr. Tanner, please stay a moment.” David halted on the spot and turned, then headed down the steps towards the professor. A hint of worry flashed through his mind, yet he quickly quenched it. Norse was rather friendly and laid back. Heck, once he tricked the whole class into believing that he was just another student and then ordered pizza for them. “You wanted to speak with me?” David asked, curiosity written on his face. “Ah yes, Mr. Tanner. Would you mind if I address you by your first name?” said Professor Norse as he stood up and walked around the desk, then sat on its edge. “That’s fine, professor.”  Norse nodded. "David, are you doing alright? You seem to be distant during my lessons, like your mind is elsewhere. Is there something bothering you? I couldn’t help but notice your grades have been slipping. Is my course too difficult?” He leaned against the desk with worry on his face. David’s shoulders slumped, and he glanced down. He knew he wasn’t performing as well as he once did. “I'm sorry. It's nothing. I'll try harder."   "David, you know you can talk to me. After all, I used to be a psychologist before I began teaching. If there is anything you need to get off your chest, I am here for you." The professor leaned forward, his voice bearing a clear, caring tone.  "Well… I watched a show on television, and it… reminded me of my fiancée, before she died." Feeling the weight of his memories, David hung his head and sat on the closest seat.   Professor Norse rubbed his chin in thought. "Talk to me, what show was it, and what about it made you think of her?" He settled on a seat next to David.  “She was a major fan of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Called herself a pegasister, a female brony.” David chuckled and relaxed slightly. “More than once we would binge-watch a season together. She had all the comics and toys. The day she…” He stopped, recalling the fateful day. His voice hitched as he choked out the words, “...S-she died...she had on a Pinkie Pie shirt. That was her favorite character, a pink pony.”  Norse bobbed his head slightly. “I understand. What is your favorite character?”    “Huh?” David cocked his head. His confusion then turned into realization. He smiled awkwardly, ashamed that he could be considered a fan of such a girly show. “Oh, I’m not a fan, I just watched it with her. I know something about the show, though I can’t name the background characters or anything. I just nodded and tried to keep up when she went on a tangent about the lore. Like the time she tried to explain how the fans think one character was an orphan. Without her, I got bored of it near the end of season seven.” “Then why did you continue to watch it?” The professor reached behind himself and drew forth his wallet. “I guess I haven’t gotten over her. It’s my fault. We were going camping, there was a narrow road, and I saw this car behind us speeding. He tried to pass us on a double line, but around the bend came a truck hauling logs. I should have slowed down when he pulled around us, should have… told her to fasten her seat belt.” His voice died as he tried to swallow his guilt. Norse nodded solemnly. “If you’d like, I have some friends who are still practicing in town. There is plenty of stress at school, and you are suffering from grief as well.” The professor pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to him. “Please do yourself a favor and get an appointment.” Taking the card, David looked it over. “I’ll think about it.” “That's all I ask, do take care of yourself, David.” Norse smiled. “See you next class, Professor.” David headed out of the room and soon out of the building and into the campus. He was aware he walked faster than normal. He told himself he was late to his next class, his emotions were in turmoil, and he wanted to get out and into the fresh air. A flash of pink in the campus library window caught his attention. He turned to look at it, then the other way. “Huh, Pinkie?“ He spotted a woman with a pink book bag reflecting in one of the windows. He eyed her tight-fitting jeans for a moment. Shaking his head, he continued on his way. The scent of a steak filled the apartment as he sat down to dinner. He glanced at the pony figures on the shelf. “Well, girls, another night alone. Perhaps Professor Norse is right, I might need professional help.” He thought about the woman he saw. Was it time to try dating again? Then he looked at the black ring box sitting next to the figures. Do I let myself feel love again? It's my fault she’s dead… I deserve to suffer. He sighed and shoved the idea to the back of his mind. He tried to find something interesting on television. Failing to find anything live, he flicked on the final two-parter of season seven, Shadow Play, and watched it idly as he chewed through his juicy steak. Then he nearly choked. “Impossible…” He reached for his phone and tapped the screen, only for it to flicker and glitch. “Stupid piece of shit…” he grumbled. He set down the phone, grabbed his laptop, and searched for the Pony of Shadows. “That’s what I saw, the shadow horse with glowing eyes! How could I have dreamt of something I’ve never seen before? No, I must have seen this and just forgot. It would have been right after her death. That must be it, I just forgot about seeing this episode.” Already at the computer, he closed the tabs and started working on his school work. He yawned as he finished the homework for two of his classes. Once his laptop was off, he stood up and went to the center of the room. “Alexa, start meditation routine,” he called out to the speaker.  It chimed and announced neutrally, “Beginning meditation routine.” The lights dimmed, and the sound of a bubbling brook played out of the speakers. He sat on the floor with closed eyes as he imagined that brook. He let the worry and stress of the day wash away with the imaginary water. His thoughts turned to the dream he wanted tonight, a calm and peaceful location. A library came to his mind, and he explored the idea further. Perhaps he could add that pretty woman with the pink bookbag. Then the sounds ended, and a chime rang out as one hour of the meditation routine finished. He stretched and headed to bed for sleep and hopefully a dream of a pretty woman in a library. He settled below the covers and hugged his pillow before closing his eyes. High walls with rows of books filled his mind as he painted the picture of the library he wanted. His breathing slowed as sleep took over his body. The mental image of the library vanished like smoke in the wind, and he found himself standing on grass in a garden. It was the same garden from yesterday, flowering plants shifting and changing each time he looked. The night sky stretched above, now with swirling galaxies and clouds that appeared to be moving in a clockwise motion above the garden island. “What the…” He glanced down and saw he was once again on four legs.   It wasn’t the same as yesterday though. He lifted his right foreleg and looked at it. There was no hard hoof; it was as if his leg was just a deep blue tube. “Oh no…” He made his way to the pool of water and looked down. His reflection looked back with frustration on his face “I look like a recolored Princess Big Macintosh.” He smashed the pool with his forehoof. “It’s not that bad, handsome!” The voice shocked him, and he fell as he scrambled to turn around, feeling the pain of the fall before dismissing it. There, standing under the large emerald green-leaved willow tree was Pinkie Pie, laughing. “Oh, that was good! You should have seen yourself, David!” “Okay, Pinkie, what the hell is going on? This is the same place as yesterday, yet I focused my mind on a library!” Pinkie Pie sat down and tapped her chin. “Well, this island garden is kind of a bubble where you have control. The reason this is an island and not a larger landmass is because that control stops at the edge. You are able to make clouds, but no sun or moon. Those stars aren’t from your imagination.” He cocked his head at that. “What do you mean? This is a dream.” “Nope. It’s something between reality and dreams. Unlike a normal dream, this is here even when you are awake. A constant connection that doesn’t fade. I know, I was exploring while you were gone!” “How can this not be a dream?” His ears fell back as confusion came to his face.  Pinkie Pie bounced over to him. “You do make a cute Big Mac, too bad we aren’t anatomically correct,” she teased with a wink. “Be serious, Pinkie. I’m not going to make the same mistake I did last night and focus on my body’s appearance. I need to understand this.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Okay, I only know what you know, so this is guesswork, but I think we are in the dream realm. Luna’s magical dream realm.” “That makes no sense, Pinkie.” He stomped the ground, and his wings fluttered. “Well, it does, just a twisted insane and slightly loopy sense. First, we were in a dream version of Ponyville, then that hole in the sky appeared, a hole that drew you into it. Any dream character that got pulled up vanished, you didn’t even wake up. A normal nightmare would have caused you to wake up if it was that scary. Because you were still dreaming, your mind generated elements like the voices, but the Pony of Shadows wasn’t from your mind.” “David, you haven’t seen the season seven final before, you were too busy with the funeral. That was not your imagination, that was the Pony of Shadows.” Pinkie’s form shifted, growing darker and taller than David’s pony form. A dark smoky horn grew out of her head and her body became male in appearance.  The Pony of Shadows’ voice echoed as he spoke, “Take a closer look, this isn’t the cartoon version. His legs are lean with clear joints and muscle structure. We saw the real thing, like how Celestia was real. If you created the Pony of Shadows from your imagination, then why would it look so real? Remember Twilight said Limbo was a place between places. Your dreaming mind traveled through Limbo and arrived here.”  The shadowy figure moved to the edge of the island. With each step, it shifted until finally, Pinkie Pie leaped out of the fading shadow form. Once the shadows disappeared, she stood at the edge of the island and stuck her hoof out. The end of it turned into smoke, just like the library before. Once she backed up, her leg reappeared.   “See, out there you don’t have control, too far away from the tree it becomes unstable. This is your haven where you are in charge.” She looked up to the stars. “Out there, among the stars, it is a different matter. Those aren’t stars, they are souls. Each one a dreamer. Face it, David, you are like Freddy Krueger now, a dream walker.” She giggled.   Pinkie Pie moved up beside him and nudged his withers. “It's more stable than any dream. It’s as good as the real thing. Take a sniff, you can smell the flowers. And remember how you fell earlier? You felt pain. Real pain, you don’t feel pain in dreams.”   “No way, Pinkie, I won’t believe it. That kind of thing just isn’t possible.” His hoof struck the ground again, and he turned to look at the willow tree. It hasn’t changed since last night, yet details would change even in the strongest dream. “Then prove me wrong. Go and enter someone’s dream, or should I say somepony’s?” Pikie motioned to the stars above. David shook his head. “That proves this is a dream. Why would I, a human, be in the dreams of cartoon ponies?” “That Celestia and Luna didn’t look like cartoons. Oh! Let’s find out, let’s explore!” Pinkie exclaimed and bounced into the air. Shaking his head, he walked with her to the edge of the island. “Okay, what do I do?” “Like I know?” She sat down and tapped her chin with her hoof. “Okay, those stars are dreamers, so we need to choose one. Then enter it… Oh, wait! We should make a magic gateway that connects the island to the dreamer’s dream. It would be easier for you to enter a dream that way, I presume.” He shrugged. Technically Pinkie Pie was a part of him, so it was his idea. He looked at the grass, and a stone archway rose into the air from there immediately. It was a stone dolmen like something taken straight out of Stonehenge. The three stones were dark gray granite with Norse runes carved into them. Pinkie Pie smiled and tapped one of the tall stones. “Oh, you used Elder Futhark Norse runes! Very nice.” After rolling his eyes, he turned his gaze to the stars. Spotting a sparkling pinkish star nearby, he mentally willed the gate to connect to that star. To his surprise, the star moved and came closer, its light bathed the area in a pink glow. The star, or dream, settled down on top of the dolmen, and a few of the runes lit up with that same pink light.  David looked at the runes that were glowing. “Hmm, Pertho, Ehwaz, Ingwaz. I think those runes together would mean this dream has something to do with primal law, relationships, and love? Wait, Ingwaz could mean Fertility? What kind of dream could this be?”  Pinkie smiled at him. “Only one way to find out!” David looked at the dolmen stones, in between which was now a forcefield shimmering with the same color as the dream star. He took a deep breath and then walked into the field and, if Pinkie Pie was right, someone else’s dream. As he passed through, it felt like he stepped into a swimming pool. There was just a slight surface tension that gave way to him as he entered. Legs, wings, his very body was suddenly numb. Reaching out, he saw his forearm was a shapeless mass of shifting white and silvery gray. Much like how Nightmare Moon turned into a dark mist in the cartoon. Then he felt his mist form change, growing and shifting into the form of a realistic pony. He saw his legs were pure white and seemed to almost glow. He looked back at a silver tail and mane.   Glancing around, he noticed he was standing in someone’s home. A log cabin with a dirt floor and a plain wood table below a single window. The window itself was just a hole in the wall with a thick blanket-like curtain drawn aside to let the light in. The rays of sunlight danced over a simple clay pot with flowers on the table.  There was a loft above with steps leading up to it from the main floor. No sign of any other rooms or furniture, not even a closet. “Your Majesty! You came for me!” a clear female voice called from behind him. With a smooth graceful stride, he turned, his silver mane flipping behind him as if he was in a cheesy romance novel. What the hell? He tried to scream, but couldn’t, his body was moving on its own. In the doorway of the cabin stood a realistic-looking mare with a copper-red mane and a tan brown coat. He winced when his mouth started speaking of its own accord, “My dear Lilly Belle. It’s I, Prince Platinum Shine, and I've been searching all my life for you.” His forehoof tilted her head up, and he leaned down and kissed her. What’s going on! Pinkie Pie, are you here? I can’t control what I’m doing! “Let me take you away from this boring life of lilies for the unthankful fools of this humble village,” he spoke softly as he started nuzzling the mare’s neck. The room changed to a lush bedroom with a large four-poster bed and a grand fireplace. Oh no, don’t tell me it’s… She is having that kind of dream! Pinkie, get me out of here! Panic gripped him, he really didn’t want to endure a pony wet dream. He struggled to gain control, only to see his hoof twitch before he lost grip on it again. “No, I can’t, My Prince. Growing lilies is my talent, it’s my life. I love watching the buds grow and bloom under my care.” David fought against his body as he gazed into the rose-red eyes of Lilly Belle.  He leaned in to kiss her as the room shifted back to the log cabin. Suddenly the air in his lungs was gone as he was knocked off his hooves and into a wall. “Villainous unicorn! You will not take my Lilly Belle from me!”   Pain, he was feeling real pain. David felt the ache of being slammed into a wall. What the hell hit me? He groaned inwardly. He heard Pinkie’s voice then. Just like his own thoughts, it was coming from his head. Oh, it was that red stallion that Lilly Belle is now confronting. Spoilsport, we were just getting to the fun part. Pinkie, I do not want to have sex with a pony! His body rose, and he saw the large red stallion. The guy was pure muscle. “Redwood! I’m not some property you can control!” Lilly Belle stood before the stallion, stomping her front hoof into the ground repeatedly. “Knave! You are the brute who forbids my love of Lilly Belle! I challenge you to a duel, a fight to the death!” No, you idiot! I don’t want to die! Still feeling the pain of being slammed into the wall, David silently screamed at his body to listen to his commands. Lilly turned to face him and cried in a dramatic stage voice, “No, Plantumn Shine! If you die, my heart would break.” This girl read too many romance novels. David mentally sighed as the scene started to change. Silly, you assume she can read. More like she heard one too many stories from a storyteller or bard, Pinkie replied. The surroundings shifted to a simple village square surrounded by wooden buildings with dirt piled up on the sides and sod rooftops. It reminded David of Viking buildings. In the center of the square was a water well, and he could see a few buildings further away similar to longhouses. There were even a few yards for farm animals and growing crops, all protected by a wooden wall. He turned his eyes back to Redwood and snorted, then pawed his hoof on the ground. The earth pony crowd surrounding him murmured quietly. He started walking away from the well slowly. “Seven, Eight,” Lilly Belle's voice echoed in his ears as he paced away from his adversary. “Nine, TEN!” He turned around and charged at Redwood, who was galloping at him. No! Stop, you stupid body! The two stallions met and rose up on their hind legs, swinging their front legs. David felt each hard impact, his jaw bone shattered when one Redwood’s strike connected. Agh! He fell to the ground, and the world seemed to ripple as his awareness rose from the limp body of the prince. “Redwood! You won, I knew you could.” Lilly Belle ran up to Redwood and kissed him. That bitch! Staggering through the portal, his body rematerialized. Once more, he was in his dark bat-pony alicorn form. Physically aching and tired, he fell to his belly, embracing the grass as a mattress. “That was fun!” Pinkie’s voice came from above him. Opening his eyes, he saw the bubblegum pink fur legs ending in dark pink hooves standing before him. His gaze moved up the legs to see two bright blue eyes. Eyes that weren’t taking up half the entire face. Pinke was now in that realistic appearance, yet her mane and tail still seemed to deny any concept of order, all twisted in springy curls, but unlike before, he could see individual hairs. “No, Pinkie, that wasn’t fun. I couldn’t move my body. I thought it was going to turn into a…” With a slightly teasing voice, she said, “An adult pornographic scene. I know your body urges are building up. I'm surprised you haven’t had a wet funtime dream yet.” She giggled playfully. “I know you wanted a kinky dream. You even thought about that college girl with the pink backpack!” “I couldn’t control myself! I was trapped, I felt that body die!” He neighed and stomped his hoof against the ground, his wings fluffed up. Pinkie curiously tilted her head, looking him up and down. “That’s interesting.” “What’s interesting?” He took a few steps back, and Pinkie Pie’s form shifted, turning into a purple alicorn with a darker purple mane and tail. Just like Pinkie before, the Twilight Sparkle now standing in her place was real-looking. He could see the different feathers of her wings, the hairs of her mane, and the sharp calculating eyes. She smiled. “Instinctive response to your anger. Your body language in this form is that of a pony.” “What?” He looked back at his body and noticed his wings were flared. Twilight was smiling mischievously and exclaimed with a bit of excitement, “We are now anatomically correct, however, I think we need more… science!” She ran over to the portal gate and motioned to a light sky blue star. David sighed and focused on it. Just like the pinkish star before it, it moved closer to rest on the stones. The empty area under the dolmen was then filled with a matching shimmering field. “There, ready to try again? I doubt we have a second dream about stallions fighting for the affection of a mare.”  He knocked his forehead with his hoof and sighed, feeling the pain of whacking himself. “Mental note: facehoofing hurts. Alright, I confess I’m curious, let’s try this again.” The light blue glow rippled as he walked into the field. If he had paid attention, he would have noticed the glowing runes on the dolmen. They were Isa, a rune for ice or clarity, Hagalaz, the rune of storm or air, change or growth, and Uruz, the rune associated with manhood, and power.